What is our primary use case?
We use this solution mostly for our clients. It's a lifecycle management tool. We use it for the entire lifecycle of software development. Then we deliver it, and use it for production support. Basically, you can always use it for your requirements, as well as to track the health of your project.
What is most valuable?
I have found almost all of the features valuable because it integrates well with your Microsoft products. If a client is using the entire Microsoft platform, then TFS would be definitely preferable. It integrates with the digital studio development environment as well. So, almost all the features for TFS are useful.
The good thing is, unlike other products, you get a complete suite of features. Many of the other vendors don't have an entire suite of features available. If you take Jira for example, the requirements might be captured in a different tool. Or maybe there are other features in the lifecycle development environment and different tools might be used, but TFS offers a consolidated package. You don't have to go to other tools to capture your requirements, or maybe even if you're doing build and release planning.
What needs improvement?
Nowadays, the shift is from Waterfall to Agile, so many vendors have come up with their own products. For example, Jira has many built-in features which support the PI planning. Overall, I think it would be useful to have something similar where Microsoft comes up with supporting concepts of scaling Agile in TFS so that clients don't have to look for a separate tool. That would be helpful.
With the latest version, I'm not too aware of whether Microsoft has implemented the PI planning features, the collaboration features, in TFS or not. But I think that would be one of the features that might be helpful to the development teams and for the overall planning.
There have also been some security glitches with this solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used this solution for more than 10 years. I've been working on Microsoft technologies only, and my team members have also been working on TFS for a long time.
The last time I used TFS was in 2020. After that, I moved out of delivery into consulting. I was using the last version before they moved to the cloud version, Azure DevOps.
Earlier, we were using it majorly on-premises. Later on when Microsoft introduced Azure DevOps, then we moved onto the cloud.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's absolutely scalable. If you are planning for a high availability environment, then you can definitely have a backup environment as well. Then if something goes wrong with your primary server, there is always a backup available, which you can always use.
How are customer service and support?
The support and documentation available on their website are very good.
I would rate them between 4 and 5 on a scale of 1 to 5.
How was the initial setup?
I would give the initial setup a four out of five. It's not very complex. Microsoft provides all the documentation and guidance to do the setup, and even has videos available. The guidance is very good.
The length of deployment is on a case-by-case basis. Some of the clients may have a complex environment, some may not. So it depends on what kind of supporting tools are available on the client's premises. TFS is not that complex to set up, unless the environment design is very complex.
Most of the clients have their own support teams for incident management. So, it depends on each of the individual clients. They have the budget, and they will have an entire team to support your TFS and management.
What was our ROI?
It's worth the money. I've been using Microsoft products right from the start of my career, and I'm a big fan of Microsoft products. Many people don't like them because they work on different platforms. But the good thing about Microsoft products is that they're interlinked. For example, even if I'm a developer, the underlying development language is always going to be the same, irrespective of whether I use Dynamics 365 or ASP. The underlying programming language is always common. So, the rates are comparatively less than shifting from one Microsoft product to another, or implementing the suite of Microsoft products. The learning curve is always comparatively less.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Microsoft products are always expensive. Obviously, they are quality products, but it would be helpful if there was a reduction in price. But compared to other vendors, I think the cost is high.
I've been doing the budgeting for clients, and I find that the costing part — when we are going for new environments or we are ordering new servers — definitely plays a big part.
I would rate it between a 2 and 3 out of 5.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution 8 out of 10.
I'd give it that rating because there are security glitches, but otherwise, from a usability standpoint and from the operational perspective, I think the products are really good.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.